


Goro Week 2019 Scenes

by lessiehanamoray



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Appreciation Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-27 14:37:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20761988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessiehanamoray/pseuds/lessiehanamoray
Summary: A set of scenes for Goro Week 2019 for the days where I didn't have a full story in mind.  Often ShuAke.





	1. Hobbies

Goro Akechi took a deep breath, savoring the scents of coffee and curry. The distinctive smell of Cafe Leblanc. 

The owner, Sojiro Sakura, provided a simple grunt of recognition. “Your usual?”

Goro smiled at him. “Thank you.”

Mr. Sakura grunted again, turning around to brew Goro’s preferred coffee blend. The gruff man didn’t seem to like him much, but honestly Goro appreciated the lack of conversation. The new played in the background, but beyond that the cafe was usually quite quiet. 

Perfect for a bit of escape. 

He sat down in his usual seat at the counter. He set his case on the counter, and pulled out a book from his satchel.  _ The Woman in White  _ by Wilkie Collins was a classic Vicltorian mystery he’d never gotten around to reading. He hadn’t been able to find a Japanese copy, but had tracked down a used English copy for cheap.

Long live Half-Price Books. 

Mr. Sakura placed the cup of coffee in front of him, in a slightly oversized mug. 

Goro arched an eyebrow. 

“You’re a regular.”

Fair enough. He turned his attention back to his book. 

Reading was one of the few hobbies to endure throughout his life. Between libraries and used book stores, it was cheap, highly portable, and something no one took issue with. 

He read Japanese books for pure relaxation, and books in English when he wanted a challenge. In the last couple of years, he’d started reading English novels, but even as a child he had struggled through short stories. 

He still kept a battered copy of  _ The Many Adventures of Robin Hood _ hidden in his case. 

But for now, gothic Victorian mystery. He had to pull up his English dictionary a couple of times, but felt he made good progress. 

The smoothe coffee ensured relaxation too. 

And the ding as someone entered the shop made him smile. He turned to see Akira Kurusu and his cat enter. 

“Honey, I’m home.”

Goro snrked. Akira had greeted him like that the last several times, and damn if he didn’t love it. 

“Welcome home.”

Akira looked almost disappointed by the lack of reaction. At this point, not even Mr. Sakura reacted to their strange little ritual. 

The cat, Morgana, just headed upstairs. 

Goro put his book away. “I suppose I should head out now.”

“Have a good evening.”

“You too.”

He walked past Akira, their shoulders briefly brushing against each other. The brief warmth bringing Goro’s smile to his eyes. 

He stepped out into the cool night air, but the warmth lingered.

Of everyone in Tokyo, Akira Kurusu was the only one Goro enjoyed making contact with. Whether from the excitement of being close to his prey or something else, he was never quite sure.

Whatever the answer, he biked home feeling quite relaxed. 


	2. Fashion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a simple "What does your character see when they look in the mirror?" sort of exercise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically Goro Week Day 3's scene. I wrote the story "Aftershot" for day 2.

The teenager stared at himself in the mirror, barely recognizing the figure before him. Tight pants and a black tank top formed the base layer of this strange ensemble, already at the edge of his comfort zone. 

The tall, dark purple, boots with black straps and randomly placed buckles leapt over the edge. The perfectly matching jacket, almost more like a vest with tails, ensured quite the distance between comfort and oddity. The long gloves just kept the dive going. 

He liked wearing gloves. They looked stylish and helped mitigate physical contact. He’d never worn gloves that passed the elbow before though. And he’d definitely never worn gloves with attached talons.

He gently moved one of those talons across his cheek. It left a thin scratch in its wake. No pain. Just a drizzle of blood. 

The teen took a deep breath. He considered taking the talons off. They looked cool though. Besides, he slowly spun in front of the mirror, no way he was hiding a weapon in these pants. 

He considered the rest of his ensemble. Thick eyeliner and deep purple eyeshadow. Tinted contacts which turned his brown eyes red. A wig with one side longer than the other, mostly near-black purple, but with streaks of deep red to avoid monotony. Black lipstick. Contouring to make his face appear almost pointy. Even his eyebrows were dyed black, making it almost impossible to decipher his hair’s natural brown color. 

An older man walked into the room. “Well? What do you think?”

“I don’t feel like me.”

The man grinned. “You don’t feel like Goro Akechi,” he corrected. He came clower. “This is your chance to be yourself...Masa.”

The teen shuddered. He hated remembering his past life, only months behind him now. 

“He’ll sniff you out in an instant if you think of yourself as Goro Akechi, undercover detective” The man began applying some make-up on Goro’s exposed upper arm and shoulder. “If you think of yourself as Masa though, as the boy forced into a criminal organization and struggling to survive. Well,” he moved to the other side, “he might even like you.”

“Hard to imagine a fight club owner so perceptive.”

“He finds combat honest, and hates lies above all else.” The man pauses to examine his handiwork. “And so I encourage you to be completely honest with him. Be the pissed off, vengeful, murderous brat, I know you to be.”

Goro nearly clenched his hands, remembering the talons just in time to avoid puncturing himself. 

“This club, it’s a place of eye for an eye justice. Honestly,” he began applying make-up around Goro’s forehead, “I think you’ll really like it there.”

The man backed away. “And I tell you, be everything Goro Akechi isn’t allowed to be.”

Goro, no, Masa, looked in the mirror again. As Masa he’d been hurt again and again, always unwanted, and ultimately nothing more than a simple tool. He didn’t really know what a confident Masa might look like. 

Maybe it would be kind of fun finding out. 


	3. Shadow Persona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goro does some research into Loki.

Goro Akechi tapped his fingers against the desk, bored and agitated. English may not have been the easiest class for him, it was second, but it was the most painful to sit through. So painful, in fact, that he had requested his manager schedule appearances in the afternoons rather than mornings. English was painfully dull, and Japanese practically pointless.

Event at a prestigious school, most of his classmates didn’t seem interested in using their own initiative to learn. Oh, they could take tests with the best of them. And all of them could hold conversations in the language.

The problem was that most of them couldn’t read English aloud for shit. Even worse, the readings were usually terribly dull. The only decent part of the class was reading English language newspapers, and he often did that in his free time anyway. 

He slid a book carefully out of his desk. It was an analysis of trickster gods, with an emphasis on the Nordic deity, Loki. He knew the cultural references to the deity, but he had never read the original myths. After perusing some Japanese books on the subject, he had moved over to English one. He hoped the insight offered by those more culturally similar to the nords would prove enlightening. 

He’d only used Loki a few times, each time feeling more like the persona was a parasite wriggling out his skull than an aspect of himself. 

When he summoned Robin Hood, he felt as though a piece of himself was set free. His will power and his desire for personal freedom, launching out to attack those who would attempt to cage him. 

When he summoned Loki, he felt like he’d just unleashed a monster. He rarely intended it, and even when he did seemed capable of summoning the powerful persona only under extreme duress. 

If Robin Hood was about protecting him from those who would hurt him, then Loki was about vengeance. Unbridled hatred set free. 

He’d seen versions of Loki like that in media before, but hated the idea that his heart produced something pure evil. 

The myths were helping with that. They made Loki feel more like a trickster no longer content with his station in life rather than a being of pure evil. He was both helpful and harmful. Originally merely a trickster, anger and bitterness had transformed into a villain. 

It still wasn’t Goro’s favorite comparison, but it felt better than evil for the sake of evil.

And he could relate to the rage. How often did someone have to be ridiculed before they lashed out? 

“Goro Akechi!”

He lifted his eyes to see his English teacher glaring at him. 

Some of the students, mainly boys, snickered at him. 

He stood, carefully sliding his bookmark into place as he did. “Yes, teacher?”

“Pay attention!” she snapped.

She didn’t like him. Thought having a celebrity in the class was a bad distraction. Thought teenagers should huddle together in obedience. 

He despised her.

“What do you call a ward that is the same when flipped upside down?”

Seriously? He knew they weren’t talking about. 

“Ambigrams,” Goro responded flatly. 

His teacher’s nostrils flared. “And what common English word is an example?”

“Swims.” 

He’d run into this sort of thing in a mystery novel. Several of the words had been the same in the upside-down version of the note, and so he’d looked it up. 

The teacher looked about ready to burst.

“However, that’s only in standard print. Depending on how you write it,” he continued in lightly accented English, “other words can apply. Artist John Langdon is well known for creating several ambigrams for author Dan Brown.”

“Thank you,” his teacher replied through gritted teeth. 

He sat back down. Several of the students look at him in awe. Others looked like they wanted to punch him. 

His teacher glared at him. 

He felt a pang behind his eyes, something he now recognized as a sign that Loki stirred. 

Goro smiled politely at her, reminding himself that his English teacher was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. 

There were much bigger fish to catch.

He opened his book again. Like Loki, he would take down those who hurt him.

His lips may be sewn shut, but that didn’t mean he was powerless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite, but I really wasn't sure how to end it. Anyway, this is for the theme of Persona/Shadow. My Au/Canon Divergence story is called The Enchanted Wood, and was posted the previous day.

**Author's Note:**

> My plan is to write scenes like this for the days I don't have full stories ready, so you won't see every day in here. I'll put them in as a series when the week ends so they're easy to find.


End file.
